Sliding-lifting roof for automobiles

In a sliding and lifting roof for an automobile comprising a generally rectangular roof opening with a downward flange at its edges, a rigid lid for said opening, a sliding roof frame, said lid being hingedly connected to an intermediate frame, a pair of guide rails, one at each side of said opening, a forward sliding element and a rearward sliding element on each said rail for guiding said sliding roof frame on both of said rails, said intermediate frame located between said lid and said sliding roof frame, guide shoes for mounting said forward sliding elements, guide shoes for mounting said rearward sliding elements on said rails, and a raising lever pivotally mounted on said rearward sliding element to raise and lower said lid, that improvement comprising:

• hinge means connecting said rigid lid to said intermediate frame which is formed with a hinge eye located near the forward edge of the lid to pivotally mount said lid for raising above the automobile roof;
• first guide block means beneath said intermediate frame and attached thereto:
• a guide pin in said first guide block;
• second guide block means having an elongate bore for engaging the guide pin of said first guide block means;
• the guide pin and elongated bore providing a sliding hinge which during pivotal movement of the lid on said intermediate frame participates in relative lifting and lowering movements between said first and second guide blocks;
• and
• an elongated guide carriage slidably mounted on each said guide rail comprising a forward link rod and link pins, a rear link rod and link pins, said link rods, guide carriages, and intermediate frame substantially forming a parallelogram in which the link pins are seated at the corner points of the parallelogram, the link pins of the rear link rod lying in a substantially vertical plane with the intermediate frame in a raised position;
• and coupling means for said carriage to resiliently couple the rear sliding element to said carriage, so that in the closed position of the lid and in all sliding positions of the lid the guide carriage and the rear sliding element are coupled to each other while at the beginning of the pivoting movement of the hinge means the guide carriage and rear sliding element are uncoupled.